Slide mat



Jan. 8, 1929. l l 1,698,093

H. H. HARGRAVE SLIDE' MAT Filed oct. 8, 1925 attenua/J,

Patented Jan. 8, 1929.

irs

HARRY I-I. HARGRAVE'OF LONG BEACH, CALFORNIA.

SLIDE MAT.

Application filed October 8, 1925. Serial No. 61,202. Y

This invention relates to mats of the type employed for supporting a person while trav. eling down an amusement slide, and an object of the invention is to provide a construction that will insure against the person falling off of the mat, and that will prevent the skirts of women passengers from billowing.

Some amusement slides are built with curves in them, and thus the person traveling down the slide tends to be thrown by ceny trifugal force to the outer wall of the slide at the curves. Accordingly, an important ob- .ject of this invention is to protect the person from contact with the side walls of theslide.

Another object is tocause the mat t-o tend to slide toward the inner wall on curves so as to avoid excessive friction between the outer Wall and the adjacent side wall of the mat.

A very important object is to provide a mat that can be used with equal success whetherthe slide by dry or damp. j Since slides are constructed largely at beach resorts, it will be readily understood that the prevalent mists or fogs dampen the slides and that, accordingly, the coefficient of friction between they mat and the slide isa variable.

To properly take care of this difference in friction, the matis so constructed -that the under surface thereof can be readily provided with a wooden runner or runners.

Another object is to providefa construction in which the runner is in such position as to receive most of the weight of the person on the mat, thus minimizing pressure of the fiber floor of the mat upon the slide so that the mat will travel faster down the slide than if the weight were largely upon the fiber floor.

Another object is to facilitate manufacture of the mat floor by utilizing the fiber in the formV of rope. v 1

Other ob 'ectsl and advantages willA appear from the subjoined detailed description.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention: Y

Fig. 1 is a planview of the slide mat constructed in accordance with the provisions of this invention, a portion of the floor being Y broken away.

4the inner encircling rope member 8.

The floor of the mat is indicated at 6V and is of fiber. For example, the floor may be of cocoanut fiber or any other fibrous material highly resista-nt to wear-and having a low frictional value.` In the instance-shown, more particularly in Fig. 1, the ber is in rope form, the rope being led back and forth to form a substantially rectangular perforate vbody 7 and said rectangular body being encircled or surrounded by inner and outer` rope members 8, 9, respectively. In thisinstance, the rope body 7 is partly formed by aV seriesof parallel rows of loops 10, said loops being formed by transverse passes of the rope to and fro, and said .body also includes' straight rope members 11 whichl are interposed between adjacent rows of loops. The members v 11 and loops 10 are secured together by stitches 12 orother suitable fastening means. Stitches 13 secure the outermost loops 10 to stitches 12,13 preferably passV horizontally through therrope and over the rope and are not exposed at the under surface of the floor.

The

Secured to the inner encircling member 8 by stitches 14, or other suitable'means, are fabric side walls 15 and a fabric front wall 16. The walls l5, 16 may bemade of canvas and may join one another as shown. Preferably the walls 15, 16 are joined together in such manner as to cause them to extend iny Vwardly and upwardly, thus to '.constriot the opening 17 between the upper margins ofthe walls. In other words, the combined lengths cf theupper margins" of the walls are less than the combined lengths of the lower margins of the walls.

y The fabric, of which the walls 15, 16 are constructed, is provided 'at its upper margin with a hem forminga `pocket 18 providedv with openings 19 along the side Walls 15, i and a rope member 20 lies partiallyiwithin the pocket 18 and has portions 20 protruding through the' openings 1,9 to `form hand holds or grips so that the passenger mayhold the walls.V 15 elevated to properly protect him from the walls of the slide down which the mat is moving, and to insure against his falling off of the mat. The walls 15, 16 may be closed downupon the skirt of a woman seated linthe forward portion of the mat, s o as to on the lloor of the mat! and close the walls l5, 1G aro-und them. The passengers will preferably place their arms on the inner sides of the walls l5 so as to properly protect them against the walls of the slide. The inatwill' then be pushed oif of the support or the support will be tilted to cause the ,matto niove onto the inclined surface of the slide in a manner understood by those skilled in the art relating to amusement slides.

When slides become damp from dew, fog or rain, so much friction would be produced between the mat liber and the floor of the slide that the mats would not travel down the slide the desired rate of speed. According ly, I have provided runners 2l of wood, which may be secured to the under face of the floor in such position that the weight of the passenger or passengers will be sustained princi pallyupon the runner or runners. The runners 21 are secured to the floor of themat by lany suitable means, the construction l prefer at present being as follows The runners 21 areyprovided vwith transversely extending holesl 22 through which extend flexible inembers or thongs 23 of leather or other suitable material. y The end portions of the thongs 23 pass through perforations of the inat floor and are tied or otherwise secured, as indicated at 24, at the upper face of the niat flooix As mentioned above, the slides frequently have curves in them, many being-built in the form of a spiral so that one of the walls of the slidel is always the outer all. ltniay be Cra assumed, for example, that the curves are constructed `so that the outer walls of the Vcurved portions aie on the rightof the perv son traveling d owii the slide. In traveling around such curved portions, there is, oi

course, a tendency for the mat and lits occupant lto be thrown by centrifugal force to the right against the outer wall of the curve. To minimize thisjtendency, the runners 2l are preferablyplaced diagonally with respect to V.the longitudinal axis of the ni at, the runners i being aslant forwardly away from that edge of the mat that is adjacent to the outer wall of Y the curve of the slide down which the mat travels. T his causes the mat to tend to run inwardly away from the outer wall of the tween the upper margins of said walls.

Qi. A slide mat comprising a fiber floor, fab# A ric walls secured to the floor along the side ina-i'ginsand one end margin of the ioor, the combined lengths of the upper margins of the walls beingl less than the combined lengt-hs of the lower margins of said walls, and grips on the upper margins of the side walls..v

3. A slide mat comprising a fiber floor,

fab ic walls securedv to the floor along the side margins and one end margin of the floor, the

fabric having a pocket at'its upper marginV with openings therein along the side walls, and a rope member partly in the pocket'and protruding through the openings to form grips. i

A." A slide mat comprising a substantially rectangular iloor body of liber, inner and Vouter rope members encircling the body, rand side walls of fabric secured to the inner encir.

cling rope member. v

5. A slide mat comprising a substantially rectangular floor-'body of tiber,aropemember encircling said body, and an end wall and side walls secured to the encircling rope member and joined together, the combined lengths of the upper margins of the walls being less than the combined lengthsof the lower margins of the walls. Y l

6; A slide mat comprising a` substantially rectangular i'loorbody of liber, and a wooden runner secured to the iioor body on. the under-face thereof,

7. A slide mat comprising a substantially rectangular floor body of fiber, and a wooden runner secured to .the floor body onthe un-v rectangular floor bodyk of fiber, a wooden runner having transversely extending .holes therethrough, and thongs passing through the holes and through the floor body, the end portions of each of said thongsbeing secured together at the-upper face of the floorvbody.

Signed atLos Angeles, Cali-f., thisvBO'day Orsept., i925.

HARRY H; HAiiGiiAvii. 

